City of Thieves Chapters 25-27 Summary & Analysis

Chapter 25 Summary

After Lev’s painful goodbye to Vika, he and Kolya trudge on through the snow. Lev is so exhausted he can barely put one foot in front of the other, but Kolya tries to keep his spirits up with his usual banter. A moment of panic ensues when Kolya falls over and they fear that the eggs – which are being carried inside his sweater – have broken, but all twelve have survived.

As Lev worries about where he will live when they are back in Leningrad, they are suddenly startled by the sound of gunshots – Russian soldiers have mistaken them for Germans. It is only as they follow orders to drop their weapons and walk towards the soldiers that Kolya realizes he has been shot in the backside and cannot walk.

They prove their innocence by showing the colonel’s letter, but Kolya is already bleeding profusely and in need of help. A lieutenant in an armored car takes them to a nearby hospital, but Kolya has already lost a lot of blood. When he turns blue and struggles to breathe, Lev knows that his friend is not going to make it; they are less than a hundred meters from the hospital when Kolya loses his fight for life.

Chapter 26 Summary

Lev arrives at his destination alone. At the colonel’s headquarters, he is shocked to see mountains of luxurious food stockpiled for the wedding, particularly when he realizes that his box of eggs is not the first: “Another dozen eggs …. That’s four dozen now” (Chapter 26, p.381). Nonetheless, the colonel is friendly, and sympathetic over the loss of Kolya. He is also extremely generous, giving Lev two Grade One ration cards, which entitle him to an officer’s rations.

Chapter 27 Summary

The final chapter moves forward in time: the siege comes to an end in January 1944 and Lev celebrates with Sonya and her friends. He is now in the army, working as a journalist for the Red Star, the army’s newspaper.

The following year, as the war comes to an end, Lev is living in an apartment with two fellow journalists…

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